What Key is Hey Joe in?

[@colinedmunds2238]

Discussing the physicality of an instrument is such an essential and overlooked element of analysis.

[@noonward]

i like this a lot.

[@noonward]

you could say it's instrumental

[@jagspelargitarr]

I remember when I was a stand in guitar teatcher at a school and showed a student how theory relates to the instrument. That was one serious light bulb moment for the student.

[@mrkrunch4340]

@@noonward You. Leave. Now

[@awelotta]

This seems rather odd though. Whils you certainly couldnt have, say, highly chromatic and transposing music on a stringed instrument, what *are* all the possible tunings for guitar that would be conducive to e.g. at least I II, and V cjords? Like, I dont play guitar, so maybe someone else knows some more

[@AMgangwolf]

jazz musicians: spend days figuring out what key hey joe is in guitarist: haha Eminor penatonic go weeew

[@jxnasp3920]

What do Jazz guitarists do then?🤔

[@traveandre8877]

haha funny blues bend lick goes brr

[@nosferatu6633]

@@jxnasp3920 jazz guitarists dont know what normal guitar shapes are

[@batatanna]

@@nosferatu6633 imagine being the only tradition that mostly uses open chords. This post was made by jazz, Latin, Brazilian, flamenco, reggae and more guitar gang

[@guillll]

That's why I love being a guitarist !

[@anonymone453]

Music Theorists: It's a little more complicated than that Any guitarist: It's way less complicated than that

[@The21GreenDayGuns]

That was exactly what i was thinking while watching this video

[@azazelleblack]

Academia in a nutshell.

[@StarOnCheek]

1:29

[@pseudocalm]

This comment sums up my gut instinct. I'm a guitarist who keeps trying to learn theory only to immediately convince myself I have trained myself to hear and quickly find the different note and chord options, and don't need it, or might be wasting my time or confusing my process. Also that process of finding is quick and dirty inspiration for riff making / editing. Works for metal anyway. But I would like to be able to speak more of the theory language nonethless.

[@deanmlshredder]

@@pseudocalm you'll also benefit creatively to learn to make the theoretical connections without context. You're pure style will shine through.

[@GoingSpacewardTV]

"A little bit of music theory can be a dangerous thing." I will be forwarding this quote immediately to the person that tried to tell me that "Just the Two of Us" is in the key of C#.

[@matthewcline8580]

what madman told you that, pretty sure it's Fm.

[@elcour]

nah its in E

[@rowandoescovers]

okay but is no one gonna point out that you watch adam neely?? i love your fly me to the moon cover

[@Dannemon]

Already been discussed. It's in Re.

[@_lars]

@@Dannemon REEEEEEEEE

[@skalpathal]

I never thought about it beyond "It's a bluesy song, we can use both major and minor chords and notes". Glad to see my deep harmonic analysis affirmed. :)

[@lawrencesmeaton6930]

I spent years learning guitar as a teen being completely lost by Major and Minor keys. I just kept playing blues scales over the top and thinking - buh?? what's the difference? Honestly thought I was missing something fundamental and nearly chucked learning the guitar before realising, as Adam says, that I was trying to apply my very basic knowledge of western classical musical theory to contemporary blues and rock and roll and naturally all the theory doesn't quite fit. I got round it in the early days by just going "Fuck it, I can't understand how this works but it sounds good and I'm going to keep playing."

[@noblefrost]

I imagine if Jimi were alive watching this, he would be enjoying this and also having a laff sayng"Oh so thats what I did there "

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

KZbin kid: u wernt doing it rite

[@joshualessore7652]

dude the rate at which Hendrix was leaning and experimenting I think he would be teaching Adam Neely the theory haha

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@joshualessore7652 "First, put ya' whammy bar on top ..."

[@joshualessore7652]

@@RideAcrossTheRiver looool can you imagine Hendrix with a floyd rose haha

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@joshualessore7652 How 'bout a live video where Hendrix grins while having his '68 Les Paul routed for a Kahler ....

[@spearmintt1342]

"What key is it in?" "It's on guitar"

[@jagspelargitarr]

Haha!

[@Guchymusic]

winner

[@ianmiddleton100]

"right guys, this one's in the key of guitar... Follow me for the changes"

[@lordviewer7305]

"What key is it in?" guitarrist: yes

[@ildarrrr2]

Guitar is always in E

[@scari_3656]

The real purpose of this video is so that Adam can flex on how many books he have

[@pequlal169]

true

[@jameslalonde4433]

Ha!

[@fran6b]

Which is a cool flex imo!

[@UrbanPanic]

Yeah. Adam's been reading John Waters quotes.

[@Lahorca]

And his cool guitar

[@classicaltrombone]

The Blues: Exists Tonal Harmony: 😤

[@StarOnCheek]

1:29

[@kubaj8397]

Tonal harmony: *exists* The blues: Nah, thx

[@santiagoriosarango2086]

The fact that you didn't quote repetition legitimizes when speaking about the repeated E chord deslegitimized repetition legitimizes due to lack of repetition

[@Schwa_Iska]

Assessment seems legit

[@merseyviking]

The fact that you didn't quote repetition legitimizes when speaking about the repeated E chord deslegitimized repetition legitimizes due to lack of repetition

[@Schwa_Iska]

Assessment seems legit

[@glennosmond4306]

say that again?

[@MartheedLockin]

So what you're saying is, repetition legitimizes?

[@calebfudrums]

I’m catching references to 12 tone, paul davids, twoset in 1 video... this Adam guy’s love for the music community on youtube really shines through

[@u2bst1nks]

maybe some davie504 too

[@emalaw1329]

@@u2bst1nks if you're referring to the overblown "BASS" transitions, he started using them way before Davie was KZbin famous

[@nextabe1]

I like how he says that a little music theory knowledge can be a dangerous thing more than once, because repetition legitimizes.

[@aali778]

repetition legitimizes repetition legitimizes

[@ivanv754]

Repetition legitimizes repetition legitimizes repetition legitimizes

[@KarlWinegardner]

I wonder if it's a reference to Tower of Power's song?

[@lonelyfloat2582]

repetition legitimizes

[@martinisbutik]

Theory me: Interesting Guitarist me: Fuck it, Em pentatonic it is!

[@WLxMusic]

it's always Em pentatonic

[@robertjones9598]

Or E major with flat 3rd and 6th. And extra chromatic notes. How the hell does that work over a dominant 7th chord?! Give me tonal jazz instead of this crazy stuff. Edit:- Slowly but surely I've realised that it's the mixolydian scale and tonal jazz still applies. To harmonise the blues note you must switch to the IV chord. I've found that a dominant chord 3 semitones up also works but I don't know why. It just sounds right. I have no idea what I am saying.

[@songfulmusicofsongs]

Actually all of these chords are normal for a blues in E.

[@iagmusicandflying]

The thing I always stress to people afraid that learning music theory will somehow deprive you of creativity. Theory is descriptive, not prescriptive. If it sounds good, it IS good. Theory is an attempt to explain why good music sounds good... and to give us a common language to discuss it. Nothing more.

[@robertjones9598]

@@iagmusicandflying But why does it sound good? It's because the society and culture that surrounds you has taught you and informed your taste such that it sounds good. Pretty sure that 4/4 and Western 12 tone will sound utterly alien and horrible to some peoples of the past. Theory can definitely be prescriptive if it's an analysis of why something works to be reapplied elsewhere.

[@viktorstade]

My god your production value has just gone off the charts. Wonderful to watch. :)

[@stuckinthepast]

I haven't watched Adam in a few years , I'm pretty impressed as well.

[@tantefrusciante]

@@stuckinthepast Username checks out

[@beenaplumber8379]

I've been binge-watching theory videos by Adam, 12tone, and David Bennett, and I'm fascinated by everything I'm learning, but this is the first time someone has spoken to me in my native guitar language. It feels validating to me to hear a theory person use my language. It never occurred to me that, while learning Western music theory is challenging for me, deciphering bar-band blues-rock basics could possibly be a challenge for the theory people. (Insert smug emoji) Adam makes me feel good sometimes :-)

[@cazgerald9471]

He squeezed my hand and whispered his final breath, "A little bit of music theory can be a dangerous thing."

[@hugoehhh]

bella

[@jasonfieler]

this is my SECOND favorite video about the key of Hey Joe that I've seen today

[@GoviaM]

not first?😳

[@Pickle_Dave]

yeah

[@metanim1]

Who is the first??

[@calholli]

shots fired

[@pabloemiliorui2281]

Transcription guy :)

[@Ss0oUuLl]

I like how Adam is not even trying to look educational anymore, he just humiliates you with terminology while looking through pages of his thick clever books and then casually quotes some random guy on the internet like yeah whatever. Absolute madman.

[@huntermorgan6177]

He's definitely snarkier in this. Even though I love his videos and analysis, I've never enjoyed that high-pitched sarcastic sounding voice effect he does to (make fun of?) comments. That being said, the point he's trying BY flipping through the textbook is not to flex, but to show that we can't answer the question using the same language that our textbook gives us. We can hardly even call it purely major or minor, and yet the book talks about binary forms and 12-tone serialism. We have to use weird modal interchange, borrow chords, and even invent terms like "plagal cascade" just to kid ourselves into thinking that Hendrix thought of theory the same way Bach did. Bottom line, I think he's trying to communicate the spiral you can get caught into approaching a "guitar" song with a "piano" mindset. Different habits, ranges, and languages.

[@christiandale4428]

@@huntermorgan6177 i don't think he's making fun of anyone in this video with his high voice. after all, he reads the final quote he agrees with in the same voice. it's just to distinguish himself from other commenters

[@Victorsandergamer]

​@@christiandale4428 also that's just the normal result of speeding up any audio clip, the pitch goes higher, which he likely does to not lengthen the video unnecessarily

[@craigcollings5568]

I love it. so badass.

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

He's a bassist. Isn't that expected?

[@theo5247]

This guy have some balls smashing music theory books on a table with a cup of coffee and a piano beneath it. Respect.

[@Aimaiai]

I was thinking that, as a guitarist, I literally just play whatever chord kinda sounds cool in the progression im trying to make. Guitars are specifically really good at randomly creating complex key changing progressions because of this.

[@Aimaiai]

@claunt sinders I've been playing for 14 years and 6 of those years were spent at a conservatory

[@livefromstudioa8245]

“We’re just going to pretend that it’s in E for the sake of EASE.” SUBSCRIBED.

[@NickzAndMikz]

E’s

[@AimeeNolte]

You always teach me so much! Great video.

[@SavageGreywolf]

"What key is it in?" "It's the blues" I feel like this perfectly explains why despite having played the guitar for 20 years music theory still sounds a little like it's in an alien language to me.

[@bluesdealer]

Yeah, the way music theory is taught, it’s easier coming from a piano background than guitar, although both have their strengths and weaknesses. I feel like the guitar lends itself to understanding the circle of 5ths better.

[@SteveJones172pilot]

And that explains to me why the guitar is so mysterious! I've been "piano-centric" and took 2 years of music theory [and can confirm, I'm still in the "dangerous thing" category], and have no idea how stuff like this conveys to the guitar.. I REALLY want to take guitar lessons some day!! :-)

[@SteveJones172pilot]

@@nickc127 Cool! I'll give it a shot.. I already watched the first one, and although that was really basic, I understand that, especially since he did say "from the ground up!" :-) Anyway.. Definitely LOVE his definition of Music theory as a history of what has sounded good in the past, and a way to communicate with other musicians, vs. a framework into which all music must fit.. Thanks for the link!

[@denverrandy7143]

@@nickc127 Thank you for putting a name out that teaches music theory in piano and guitar.Im definitely going to look him up.👍

[@Kazzildo]

When in doubt just use chromaticism

[@victormonteirocunha4575]

Can we just take a moment to applaud Adam on the foreshadowing of the fanfare that plays on the first time he says "It's in E"? The fanfare is exactly that cascading sequence of C-G-D-A-E he explains throughout the vid! It's small details like this one that puts this channel so up high!

[@poke-champ4256]

If you listen closely you can hear "the lick" on the IV chord

[@turtlezinthesky]

I just always assumed it was in a vague bluesy version of E minor. So the chord roots all fall within E minor, but the chords themselves are just all major because that's how blues be sometimes... and blues plays pretty fast and loose with major and minor. And Hendrix was basically just as much a blues player as he was rock, so I figured it made sense.

[@SkillsofAWESOMENESS]

but the real question is this just enough music theory to be dangerous or so much music theory to be safe

[@turtlezinthesky]

@@SkillsofAWESOMENESS I don't see how it's dangerous to underanalyze it in this case. Music theory, from my perspective, is mostly just a descriptive task. Look at what musicians/composers do and try to work out some reasons why and what those things achieve. Offer that up to other creators and let them do with it whatever they like. I don't really care about putting Hey Joe into a box and finding a definitive explanation for it.

[@mihalyponyiczki1855]

It's also a big thing in classic rock: playing chords that have their root notes from the minor scale but only playing major chords. tons of rock songs do that

[@papermaniacs]

@@mihalyponyiczki1855 also the fact that major chords on electric guitar with distortion sound punchier, brighter, more resonant than minor chords

[@DavidErickRamos]

The title/thumbnail combo made me laugh. And made me click. Well played 👏🏻

[@frankiesdubacc2632]

you're just on the precipice of a very deep cavern sir

[@jonsnow5518]

Me too - it's so refreshing ! Adam's vids are class..

[@ramanspeedballof930]

Is there some kind of a joke that wooshed over my head? Because it's usual for his videos. Fuck, I feel stupid.

[@johnsausage]

But the real question is: In which key did he play you?

[@timotejbernat462]

Gotta love reverse clickbait

[@Elise__Mae]

As a bassist who never played guitar first, I so much appreciate your bass boosterism, Adam!

[@HardlySimpleFilmsFCX]

The fact that guitarists can just easily intuit this answer but musicians from other practices labor over it speaks to how applying musical frameworks out of context can be super misleading. You have to examine the work within the practice it was made.

[@Quarmac]

Do other musicians really have trouble with this one? I started with a classical piano background but for the last 20 years I've been playing guitar very much rooted in blues/rock tradition with a smattering of fake-jazz thrown in. My first reaction was "It's blues. It's in E *shrug*" I mean the licks are mostly E minor pentatonic, but like Adam says, you can borrow a little major here and there to spice it up. And that descending turnaround thing points back to E. It's blues. It's E.

[@vickas54]

I think it's totally valid to analyze music using other traditions, and western classical music theory is pretty useful, though it is pretty overbearing sometimes. You can't just take it and not talk about the context that it comes from though, which is why Adam's video is (as always) about as thorough and true to the source as it gets.

[@rainbowkrampus]

@@Quarmac "for the last 20 years I've been playing guitar very much rooted in blues/rock tradition" There's your answer. If you hadn't done that, if you hadn't grown up with the idioms of American rock and blues, you'd be more at a loss to explain what's going on in Hey Joe. I've known classical pianists from other countries who struggled to describe a blues scale. When I finally figured out what they were trying to describe it couldn't have been simpler. But when you lack the framework, it seems much more complicated than it really is.

[@Quarmac]

@fez! Well they might find some things like backbeat and the odd blue note counterintuitive, but the melodies and chord progressions and structure would be pretty simplistic by their standards -- comparable to the folk music of their time maybe. But see, I've always considered pop/country/rock/blues to be extensions of folk traditions. It's even there in the name "POP" short for "popular" as in "to do with the populace -- people... aka folk" Probably why I enjoy roots music so much.

[@harry1010]

I’m making this my new lock screen

[@CuriosityandCats]

"What key are we going to play this in?" Jimi: E "Major or minor?" Jimi: Yes

[@kultw1837]

I am 100% sure this was a real convo

[@StarOnCheek]

1:29

[@shipidopa]

Hahaha!

[@Schmiddelwutz2000]

Yeah, and in the Solo he mixes E minor and E major blues scale (as id ftequently done).

[@TheAkdzyn]

In my opinion, people like you are the real reason KZbin exists. I love how you curate the experience for your audience and present it like a light conversation and I end up learning things I would never have looked up to the point where I find them so interesting I do the unthinkable - additional research. You, sir, are an inspirational person who is brilliantly intelligent and talented at at communicating difficult concepts in a very friendly way. Hey Joe is a great song and Hendrix immortalised it with his rendition in a way only he could because his style was so unique.

[@WhirligigStudios]

Me: "Easy, it's just a quadruple plagal cadence" Adam: "Yeah, so it's a bunch of plagal cadences in a row" Me: *sweats seeing that it's only halfway through the video*

[@orpheus288]

I mean, that's basically what it is. One of Adam's tonal theory books must have mentioned ascending real chromatic fifths sequences, he just wasn't looking hard enough. I kid a little bit, and I know that Hendrix would not have called it that, but harmonic practices described in those textbooks are more diverse than Adam is giving music history credit for. Some Renaissance chord progressions (when the guitar was first being invented) are wild, and could be considered almost "psychedelic".

[@AlexandreDuqueque]

@@orpheus288 maybe, but Hendrix vocabulary is definetly the blues, hence Neely's final argument

[@MMadjansen]

So *that's* where the term "guitar lick" comes from...

[@suicidalkatt]

Haha, nice.

[@bruh-di4ku]

ABCDBGA

[@rumar4u]

Literally...!!

[@milesanderson6765]

"... Uses the sophisticated, melodic, vocabulary that he does on his renditions of Hey Joe and the harmonies unique relationship-" Hendrix: *its like a muff, om nom nom nom nom!*

[@iau]

Girls: Like dangerous guys Me who knows a little bit of music theory: 😏😏😏

[@adhamsalem9121]

Where you gon' go with that gun in you' hand?

[@niclasjohansson5992]

@@adhamsalem9121 "where are you going with that music theory for dummies in your hand"

[@adhamsalem9121]

@@niclasjohansson5992 yeah that's lethal too I guess.

[@philipethier9136]

@@adhamsalem9121 Where you going with that money in your hand? I'm going downtown, gonna buy me a blue-steel forty-four.

[@ericwinter4513]

I actually did laugh at the “ease” joke.

[@ericwinter4513]

@fez! The heart wants what the heart wants

[@twothreebravo]

I saw it coming and I still laughed.

[@drumset09]

There's been a joke going around my musician friends of "it's not wrong, it's jazz!" Now I'm going to introduce "It's not in a key, it's blues!"

[@shreyassarangi6106]

im gonna start doing this

[@Cesmust]

Damn, slide out keyboard and you even got Ben Shapiro to narrate the comments. Loving the production value.

[@theothersmith9570]

Jimi: “It’s in E, don’t think about it too much, just enjoy it.” Music Theorists: *hours of in-depth tonal analysis and research* Conclusion: If you don’t think too hard, it’s in E.

[@tjmendillo]

Why can't you think hard? Some people want to know why it sounds good. It's okay and relax enjoy music but there's nothing wrong with being curious why it works well theoretically.

[@theothersmith9570]

@@tjmendillo oh I agree 100% that there’s nothing wrong with analyzing music in general. The fact that music can be as simple or complex as you want it to be is great. I’m just saying that applying that to Jimi’s music seems antithetical to the way he practiced it. He was more concerned with the sound and feel of the music than the theory behind how he got there. That’s all.

[@831santacruzloc]

@@tjmendillo It’s why comedians say “Don’t deconstruct a joke to try and understand why it’s funny.” Sometimes farts are just funny. Enjoy it while you’re in the moment. If every time I farted and got a huge laugh, then immediately some nerd in the back of the class starts talking about digestive systems. I’d guarantee you that nerd will have what we called a “mega-weggie” by next class. Just goes to show; If you hear a good song/joke. Please don’t make a 17 minute explanation to why it was good. Just cry/laugh/break stuff as the original composers intended us to with their jokes/musics.

[@purplegill10]

@@831santacruzloc I don't think justifying bullying is a good argument against that

[@MattH-wg7ou]

@@purplegill10 what a lame ass response to that comment. JFC way to miss the point...again. "justifying bullying"? Youre one of them arent you. A modern day SJW cancer cell.

[@gormauslander]

This is the kind of clickbait I support. It's so bluntly honest and to the point that I can't not see what it's about

[@bazzathebaptist5564]

"What key is Hey Joe in? Or how I learned to stop caring and love the song"

[@HECKproductions]

"[...]uses the sophisticated melodic vocabulary[...]" meanwhile on screen is jimi hendrix licking his strings

[@janmelantu7490]

The real licc

[@noonward]

it's actually very true in a post structuralist sense, i think you are being unnessarily moral about fucking jimi hendrix

[@murdockberk8888]

@@noonward Calm down, you absurd fool

[@movin3148]

Hes speaking the language of the gods

[@jakimoretti7771]

@@noonward pretty sure he was joking but sure go off

[@dahahaka]

"What Key is Hey Joe in" -Adam Neely "JOE MAMA" - My brain

[@NovackGeorgeTT1971]

said in blues 7th, of course

[@capeleto]

THE WINK in the beginning. adam don't do me like this. ok i'm gonna watch the rest of the video now.

[@lucienfournier0]

how if this comment from 3 hours ago when this was uploaded 7 seconds ago what

[@anthonyflanders1347]

@@lucienfournier0 patreon

[@leopilsudski8168]

xddddddddddddd

[@haka22000]

@@lucienfournier0 Agreed. Why is KZbin lying to us?

[@arunthebuffoon4554]

@@haka22000 The time KZbin displays is the time when the video is uploaded publicly. Patrons get to watch it a bit earlier than that.

[@deadnda]

Everyone says "Hey Joe" but no one asks "How's Joe"

[@variousthings6470]

Hay is for horses, not for people. But hey is for Joe.

[@circattle]

I’d say Jimi tells us exactly how Joe is. Hint: boiling with uncontrollable murderous rage. In E.

[@aaronpearlmutter4877]

@@variousthings6470 Joe Is A Horse

[@jayarava]

He's not doing so well, given that he just shot his girlfriend and is on the run from the cops.

[@wido123123]

but....who's Joe?

[@MrAwesometater]

every time I return to this channel, I'm just blown away by the cool vibe of the videography and editing. So well produced. Good job Mr. Neely

[@count3rcultured]

I love the anti-clickbait thumbnails, and this takes it even one step further. Love that meta

[@bluudymess7395]

it's a definitely a clickbait in this case! :) Just clicked on that! thinkin' "seriously? it can't be THAT simple" :) so, clickbait it is, just another level of it! :)

[@count3rcultured]

@@bluudymess7395 the simplicity and complexity of it is brilliant

[@poodle3507]

Question for your next QnA: Adam have you ever drawn parallels between flamenco harmony and blues harmony? These two might seem distant, but let me explain: The most basic flamenco harmony comes in the form of the Andalusian cadence (Am G F E) and some people like to think of it as a minor progression resolving back to A minor, to which I call bs because a lot of flamenco starts on E and ends on E, so there's no way you can call the E chord a dominant chord. In flamenco there's often a use of secondary dominants for the G and F chord so the Andalusian cadence sounds like this: Am D7 G C7 F E (usually an E with a b9 btw) - also, Paco de Lucía really solidified this in his music, the example playing in my head right now is La Villa Vieja at 3:38. Since you have a video on Hey Joe I'll use the song as an example. Now this extended Andalusian cadence looks a lot like Hey Joe chords, but in reverse and with some changes so that it can resolve to the E (F chord is added for tension, and also we start on A minor, but this doesn't affect the resolution to the E). So we have different starting points: in Hey Joe we start on C, travel through the progression to A major, which serves as a IV to the I - E major chord and we lay there on the E for a bit to make sure we're home. Meanwhile in flamenco we start on A minor, travel through the progression to the F which is a point of tension in the ears of a flamenco musician (probably because it's a semitone above the E, and the Andalusian cadence is a descending progression), only for that F to resolve to the E with some of that extra flamenco spice (b9 added to the E chord), My point being, flamenco (if it's played por arriba - which means the top string is your tonal center - aka the low E) uses very similar chords to Hey Joe and resolves to E major in the end. Hey Joe uses C G D A E and flamenco uses Am D G C F E, so the common chords are C G D E and the scales are somewhat similar: E G A B D, E F G A B C D E, And both types of music are polymodal and tend to sharpen the 3rd in the appropriate place, usually to make that E chord into an E major, because the E major chord is your tonic chord and it seems to sit outside the scale unless you raise the 3rd of the scale. Of course there's a major difference (haha puns) between them but it seems like there are some striking similarities. Is that just because of how the guitar is tuned or is there more to it? Does my brain, like most other human brains, just like patterns and is looking too deep into this? Why is it all E? Much love from Croatia

[@CrimsonSlowHand]

Lol

[@joshjams1978]

Flamenco is another fascinating subject. I don’t think that there are THAT many similarities between flamenco and blues except for the fact that both are extremely guitar-based, si their common vocabulary is really the guitar’s basic vocabulary.

[@rabclinton2523]

this is so great. thanks for really making sense of something I never really understood. We used to play this song in my band in highschool. When you play it, it just feels perfect and right. When trying to understand it, it's always been a bit baffling. You explained it perfectly.

[@mariusbraun450]

This video is basically the music theory equivalent of "Is Cereal Soup?"

[@SavageGreywolf]

and similarly the answer is 'only if you're a psychopath' but the eurocentric world of music theory as built upon a core formulated by Heinrich Schenker, ardent actual proto-Nazi racist, doesn't take too kindly to being told to mind its business and not force its framework onto other musical traditions.

[@cybertronguy98]

actually, this is one of the songs Jimi did play in standard.

[@lovesandberg6222]

I was looking for this comment

[@belcavendishny]

i was gonna say, my ear's not *that* out of tune is it?

[@pimpacciaturpe]

@@belcavendishny might be tuned in blues

[@mdlouie]

Definitely still in E, but sounds to me like A = 436ish

[@gregoirepainchaud]

@@mdlouie so it's in E flat, but not E flat . Got it 👍

[@chrislee8343]

You explained to me something that I sort of had trouble intellectualizing as a person who started out on piano and then learned guitar. I liked the way it made me think of chord progressions that I'd never play on a keyboard but which felt totally natural and I never really got why

[@ZoCrowes]

Adam's sped up "reading internet comments voice" sounds exactly like Ben Shapiro

[@Jaspertine]

let's suppose the key is E, alright. The key isn't E, but let's suppose it is, just for the sake of argument. Okay. So if the key is E, which again, it isn't, but let's suppose it is... etc etc etc...

[@MongerOfStrings8222]

@@Jaspertine underrated reply

[@richardeadon6396]

It really does :D

[@lucasimmons075]

@@Jaspertine Hypothetically speaking if the song were in fact in the key of E, it would not make any musical sense based on centuries old tradition. Therefore, Mr. Hendrix, if that was in fact his real name, did not know what he was doing and thus we should not bother paying attention to any of his works in order to preserve the true spirit of music. Get rekt hippie

[@Ailsean]

[C] LET'S [G] DO THE [D] TIME [A] WARP A-[E]-GAIN

[@JulioLeonFandinho]

💋

[@dantecusolito8513]

Is that chordpro notation I see?

[@tahaistheboss98]

This reads like a stroke

[@klaxoncow]

It's just a jump to the left...

[@sengroagers1111]

I’m so fucking dumb i looked at this for 5 minutes thinking it was supposed to be an acronym

[@TheMarkcush]

Im no wizard but before watching this video I noticed the opening phrase of this song uses the 2nd position of the pentatonic scale, so the 1st position starts at the nut which means the scale starts in open E therefore the key must be in E. Took me about 15 seconds to work out. But your 17 mins gave me reassurance, thank you.

[@ambiention]

I originally learned to play this song with an E7#9, which makes sense I guess given the not really major or minor thing.

[@wege8409]

I'd love to see a whole video just on the idea of "blues tonality", super interesting stuff.

[@nobosnobo]

agreed!

[@SynthApprentice]

Blues tonality is typically taught in a manner that's incredibly intuitive, rather than analytical. Adam mentioned something called the "neutral third" being an element of Blues tonality, but if you mention that term, "neutral third", in a room full of blues musicians, none of them will have any idea what you're talking about. Tell them something like, "bend on the G", and they'll all know exactly what you mean. The real trick isn't knowing what notes to play, or how to play them, it's knowing how to make them feel.

[@sunkintree]

@@SynthApprenticethe trick isn't knowing what notes to play? Let me illustrate why that's false. Here's the framework: you LOVE dominant 7 chords. I IV and V are incredibly important, and the V IV I cadence is absolutely critical. Let's say we use the major scale as a base. There are a lot of variable tones in blues. These consist primarily of the b3/3, the b5/5, and the b7/7. Bonus blues points if you bend up into the quarter notes between the b3 and 3 and the b7 and 7. The "blue notes". You should emphasize the dissonances that these variable tones evoke as often as possible. Always come back to the root. There. Summed up the blues so anyone with a general understanding of music theory could pick it up and run with it. Easily described. Literally google "blues tonality ethan hein" for a more indepth theoretical dissection. The real trick is not letting yourself think that theory is bad.

[@SynthApprentice]

@@sunkintree Whoa, where did you get the idea that I think theory is bad? If I believed that, I wouldn't be on an Adam Neely video. Theory is descriptive, not proscriptive. That means that the theory follows the music, not the other way around. That's Adam's whole jam. Yes, you absolutely can apply Western Theory to Blues, but that fails to recognize that the genre really doesn't come from the tradition of the European common era. Just because you can explain, to some degree, a style of music in terms of Bach doesn't always mean that it's appropriate to do so. Round peg, square hole.

[@SynthApprentice]

@@sunkintree "You should emphasize the dissonances that these variable tones evoke as often as possible." No, you really shouldn't. The non-diatonic intervals serve an expressive purpose. They aren't always appropriate. Consider the riff to Killing Floor, which uses a major third, perfect fourth, and a diminished fifth (tritone). Using a minor fifth, the quarter tone between the diminished fifth and the perfect fifth, wouldn't really be appropriate here. The dissonance of that interval is, as Adam might say, a particular spice that doesn't fit that dish.

[@orpheus288]

You kind of only hinted at the main thing, which is why major plagal motions sound so "blues" or "rock": it's the most important part of the 12-bar blues chord progression. "Blues" becomes "psychedelic" when you extend that motion for so many iterations, encompassing a lot of pitches (I think 9 out of 12 if I counted correctly).

[@BirbTwig]

Soooo, basically, Hey Joe is in the key of guitar.

[@mrkrunch4340]

Guitar is in the key of Hey Joe

[@Brindlebrother]

in the mode of Billy Roberts

[@humanllusion590]

Me with excruciatingly limited music theory knowledge, and upcoming exams : i don't need sleep, i need a detailed analysis that i won't fully comprehend of a song i've never heard

[@TehAwesomer]

The idea of never having heard "Hey Joe" is and yet being old enough to have "exams" is 🤯 to me...

[@kkkender]

@@TehAwesomer I'm old enough to be the one giving an exam, first time to hear it, too x)

[@TehAwesomer]

@@kkkender : I know part of it is just my experience as an American of a certain generation, but I feel like it's one of those songs that I couldn't have avoided if I had tried. 😅

[@humanllusion590]

@@TehAwesomer having exams isn't even an indicator lol..this performance still took place like three decades before i first opened my eyes. Me not knowing this specific song prbly has to do with being from a different generation, geo-cultural context, music taste, and music searching patterns not leading to finding "Hey Joe".

[@TehAwesomer]

@@humanllusion590 Totally. It's just that someone of my background experienced it as such a part of the "canon" that I had basically zero chance of avoiding it. Hence the mind-blown.

[@keremmadran]

Adam, you sneaky bastard. Early on in the video I thought, "Huh, those chord voicings on the piano made it sound so alien" and then you went on to explain how thinking of it piano- and euro-centrically made no sense... Amazing edutainment foreshadowing skills. Respect. You bastard.

[@nextabe1]

The first song I learned how to play bass to. Love that walking part.

[@MrHrannsi]

Every time I watch Adam Neely videos, this Monty Python scetch plays in my head: "Did you understand that?" "No, didn't get a word of it" But still, I watch and is entertained every second of it.

[@Radishmantis]

I've been learning bass for about a year and a half and trying to keep up with some music theory stuff, and this is the first time any of this has made any sense whatsoever. Particularly, when you delve into how the song was written with the capo and the blues notes. You give language to things I've come to understand intuitively, and it's mind-blowing.

[@Voltanaut]

The best description I ever heard of the blues is from harmonica legend Joe Filisko: "Blues is the tension between major and minor." Spot on.

[@Thatbandwiththatguy]

I'm the arsehole guitarist that doesn't know Theory and Hey joe was one of the first songs i learned on guitar. -The first chord I play is E... its in E.

[@NBMusicServices]

Just because you didn’t learn theory doesn’t make you an arsehole. Theory follows practice and some of the best music was written by people without any formal training. I seem to remember a Duke Ellington quote saying “if it sounds right, it is right”

[@Thatbandwiththatguy]

@@NBMusicServices All this is true, Except for the fact that I'm definitely an arsehole regardless of musical background or choice of instrument =)

[@johnbuell8035]

@@Thatbandwiththatguy I agree

[@byteheist]

I know you're only joking, BUT, you're actually more likely to find the key by looking at the last chord of a song than the first chord

[@notoriusdrifter40]

@@byteheist Because the last chord is the resolution, tonal center and home?

[@mach2223]

I've always loved how you can ask a question and answer it at the same time, yet still manage to make it an interesting 17 minute video that people actually want to watch.

[@TanguyBlanchard]

Oh hell yeah I've been waiting for this

[@gabrieldevaud9764]

Bruh bro

[@pepijn7880]

But the real question is: Who's Joe?

[@--TOM--]

Joe mother

[@frawolfhd1490]

Not my president for sure. I'm not american.

[@bjaanderson]

And where was he going with that gun in his hand 🤔

[@minemoul2136]

Ligma balls

[@crow3043]

Joe's matriarc

[@meronyach.]

Definitely agree. It’s in E. just applied this theory to a song I recorded, and the most prevalent chord tends to give the feeling of relief.

[@zachwolfe8884]

"Blues tonality is kind of like both major and minor at the same time." A lot packed into that statement!

[@petermuller161]

Equally packed is a simple blues

[@TranscendentBen]

I've heard many blues and early\ier rock songs where the rhythm chords are in major and the lead is in minor, or vice versa, or the lead is both major and minor. But I'm only halfway through, maybe he mentions that later on. Looks like he about to get into that dead white man European music right now...

[@rudyzibar4136]

It’s in E Adam: yes but no It’s in E? Adam: it’s a little more complicated It’s in E. Adam: It’s in E. Thanks, very cool

[@xXDimistreoXx]

it's more complicated in that it's simpler than you might otherwise think

[@Arakiel9]

I find the structure of this video intensely satisfying. You can't do the, "oh wait, there's more" trick too often, it gets old fast, but you nail it in this piece, in my opinion. Multiple call backs, ending with the first, doing the "peel the onion" thing... very very well done. Thank you. :)

[@Funkybassuk]

While Adam does a guitar video, Rhett Shull puts out a bass video. This is like some weird body swap movie.

[@tradrudeboy]

Can we get a video explaining why "Careless Whisper" is so uniformly considered ironically enjoyable?

[@SavageGreywolf]

to talk about that we'd have to talk about the death of the saxophone in American popular music sometime in the mid-90s

[@donaevagoroshevsky7565]

because it's one of the greatest pop songs ever written and people are too cowardly to admit it

[@ThomasJWhite-ie9yu]

because straights will only admit liking gay artists "ironically"

[@davetbassbos]

@@donaevagoroshevsky7565 I think so too, I was a metalhead who secretly loved Wham! (platonically).

[@Fiction_Supreme]

Why is it ironically enjoyable? The only reason people "ironically" enjoy it is because they're too fragile to admit they enjoy it.

[@KevinArmstrong]

I love your analytical yet entertaining approach to music Adam. Not least because you are genuinely open-minded and funny and willing to see the value in the efforts of the self taught and the rule breakers that make popular music so interesting.

[@Pyrobolimenos1988]

After bingewatching practically every video in Adam's chanell the past two weeks, I have to say that this is probably my fastest click on a notification.

[@nocturnaloop]

Catch me popping off whenever Adam says "it's a little more complicated than that"

[@AntonioZL]

What I love the most about this video is that this is something that I "discovered" by myself while looking at maj7 chords which were the tonal center in blues songs. I then started experimenting with this major-minor scales and finally concluded simultaneously that the blues couldn't be understood through the lenses of european classical music theory AND that I was unable to notice some detail that made it all make sense. I now know that I were right, thanks to this video.

[@arunkarthikma3121]

"Hey Jimmy, maybe not in front of the kids..." Lmao at Jimi Hendrix literally licking his guitar

[@andrewsickler8466]

Jimi*

[@macronencer]

Just don't lick the B string, kids - they taste bad.

[@SynthApprentice]

@@andrewsickler8466 Beat me to it.

[@arunkarthikma3121]

@@andrewsickler8466 Damn! I didn't notice that for some reason Maybe because I'm not used to writing "Jimi Hendrix" without the "Hendrix"

[@jojoversus1100]

Hey Joe is one of the very first songs I ever learned when I was about 7 years old. I always said it was in E because the first note is E (the intro slide part) and when playing live he always resolves & ends on the Emaj chord. If Pride & Joy is in E, then so is Hey Joe. The first note says it all.

[@useruser400]

I laughed way more than I expected. I could have quit after the first 10 seconds but I opted to remain on this musical astroplane for the full trip around the tonal cosmos. And here I am right back where I started, in E. This was a journey even Timothy Leary could appreciate. Great work. Excellent video.

[@rubievale]

I use this chord progression as a backing track for my students to practice the E Blues Scale over. I've always heard it as being based resolutely in the Blues tradition.

[@hunterdavies7802]

When he put the capo on the tele my math rock senses started tingling

[@BourdeoixEterno]

Why did people back then look bored watching Jimi Hendrix? I'd lose my sh*t

[@dkhemmen]

Stoned *out of their minds* is your answer

[@Brewmaster757]

They couldn't comprehend what they were experiencing

[@calholli]

they were 12.. 12 year olds today would look just as bored. lol

[@ujjwalmishra8962]

Flicking the guitar with your toungue would stop anyone on their tracks

[@Supertimegamingify]

Stoned, not bored.

[@AndreDenofrio]

Ok, I decided, you are the Carl Sagan of music.

[@SynthApprentice]

Or was Carl Sagan the Adam Neely of science?

[@voronOsphere]

"Mister X" waa Carl Sagan! Google It !!!

[@daishoryujin95]

And I decided this is now a Ryan George reference , I decided

[@billysmart6825]

The plagal cascade is what resonated with me the most. Each chord in the song is a perfect fifth away from the next chord, finally resolving to E. Nice video

[@NicuMihai]

0:14 well that was easy, haha, thankyou! have a noice day EDIT: oh nvm...

[@GoviaM]

oh hey verified channel

[@PROFESSOR_WHALE]

skip to 17:09 if you want the same answer but 17 minutes later!

[@newmono7341]

This comment ain't even edited lmao

[@donstrong9195]

@@newmono7341 at least yours is 😂

[@louissposato4539]

I watch Adam nearly out of admiration for him because of his tremendous talent music knowledge and brilliance but often I sit down to my piano and write a great song knowing very little and going by ear sometimes innocence is bliss 🙏🏻 thank God lol

[@EvaluateAssimilate]

I hear you, but I believe the theory to be a tool to the musician. Similar to the craftsman, they know what tool does what job and therefore is able to replicate something with a degree of accuracy every time. Outside of that leaves us reaching around for the "right" tools that can be costly in respects to time spent creating. At least, that's how theory has served me.

[@franktaylor7978]

Adam I am almost 50. and you answer so many questions that I used to have as a kid learning theory. I long since have found most the answers but man I can't help but wish you were around and on TV when I was a kid in the 80s.

[@samuelkonin8139]

So THIS is what it's like to be early for an Adam Neely video...

[@arunkarthikma3121]

Wow, I thought "Hey this video was uploaded 15 minutes back! I'm early" But all the comments be like: 56 min ago

[@BockwinkleB]

I love it when people say Hendrix didn't know theory. It makes it easy to ignore them going forward.

[@SynthApprentice]

It depends entirely on what you mean by "knows theory".

[@kenzo1449]

Adam, worth mentioning the solo Jimi plays in this song, he uses the minor pentatonic the whole solo but right at the end, he uses the major one, on the A and E chords. Great video!

[@theothersmith9570]

Jimi: “This is a blues riff in E, watch me for the changes, and uh...try to keep up.”

[@khaven1656]

😁 love this

[@tonybates7870]

". . . your kids are gonna love it".

[@KramerPacer2]

Analyzing music harmony is like running in a wheel as a hamster. You feel exhausted afterwards and the benefit is smaller than you expected it to be, but somehow you keep doing it.

[@voronOsphere]

I learn from all of these types of lessons. This lesson in particular was very liberating and also cleared up a few misconceptions I had about "Key." Also, I don't care if I spend the rest of my life learning pieces of Music Theory. I'm in no hurry.... I add it in as I go.

[@KramerPacer2]

@@voronOsphere yes I was just meme-ing

[@chrisinglik4115]

Seriously, you should be awarded with the Nobel Prize for this channel ❤

[@Mr_Boyer]

Music theory is incredibly important but I feel like a lot of rock music just says “that’s cool, but I’m just gonna do what I think sounds good.”

[@bfish89ryuhayabusa]

Hendrix's face as he re-tunes on the Lulu show is great.

[@mikewhite8797]

I caught that too. Magical.

[@aries_9130]

That was seriously interesting. I'm mainly a guitarist myself and when you talked about the E7 "classically" resolving to A around 16:00, I was cringing inside thinking "NOOO, GO BACK, GO BACK!". It's really interesting to see how the instruments you play influence how you approach music in general.

[@biggtk]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the imagery of Jimi eating out his guitar? I mean, that's the real masterpiece here, am I right?

[@NotDingse]

"Blues is not just a genre of music... or genre of... sibling" you're killing me, Adam long-guitar-man!